LANSING, MI (WTVB)- Language in a second recall petition against Branch County Prosecutor Ralph Kimble that was filed by Alexia and Stephen Rish of Coldwater was approved Tuesday morning on a 3-0 vote by the Michigan State Board of Canvassers.
The petition had to be rewritten after the first one was voted down 4-0 January 30, 2018 because it did not state factually and clearly each reason for Kimble’s recall.
Now that it has been approved, over 2,800 valid signatures will have to collected from Branch County registered voters over the next 60 days for the recall to get on the ballot.
That figure represents 25 percent of the ballots cast in Branch County during the 2014 gubernatorial election. According to state law, a county prosecutor can only be removed from office by the governor or by a recall election.
Kimble has been investigated over his conduct in recent months by the State Attorney General’s Office and the Michigan State Police. He has also denied accusations made in a sexual harassment lawsuit that named him and Branch County as defendants which was filed last October by former county employee Evon Staley.
Kimble claims Staley filed the sexual harassment suit in retaliation after she was fired over a marijuana bust conducted on her property by the Southwest Michigan Enforcement Team.
